Prototyping and data analysis software

In the presentation on Videmeo.com, Pollari listed attributes for prototyping, which included, “externaliz[ing] cognition”, “thinking with your hands”, “produc[ing] alot of ideas”, “fast –iteration is the goal.” He also mentioned that “it doesn’t matter if one iteration yields little – it’s the process that matters.” Pollari then goes on to discuss how these prototyping attributes parallel the “nineteen” data analysis tool.

Prototyping software as a medium

From my experience with prototyping software and prototyping tools, online prototyping software is the same as paper prototyping except for the difference in medium. Online prototyping software helps a person “externalize cognition”, “think with [the] hands” (as well as the eyes), “produces a lot of ideas”, and also allows the iteration of ideas to be even faster than traditional pen and paper prototypes. So according to the benefits that Pollari listed for paper prototyping, online prototyping software is an excellent resource for prototyping – which is one reason why I use it.

Prototyping software in brief

If you already know that a prototype (within a computer context) is a representation of a computer program/application/website, then you will know that prototyping software is a computer program that aids you in creating drafts of programs, applications, or websites.  The prototypes that you make using prototyping software will help you visualize what the user interface of your app will look like and revision is easily done. These prototypes , of course, are not the actual final product and thus they will not possess the same functionality of the actual application, but some prototyping software will allow the prototype to be simulated with clickable wireframes to “test” it out.

Conclusion

It seems that the more I use prototyping software, the more I see its relevance, even in its theory, to other things, just as Pollari did when he drew the comparison between analyzing qualitative data and prototyping software. It seems that there is a lot to be said about prototyping and the prototyping process and it seems university students are delving into that. I will be interested to see what other theories about prototyping and the use of prototyping software arise in the future.

Firstly, the flowchart view in user interface design tools allows designers to create a sequence of pages. For instance, when designing a purchase process for an e-commerce website a web designer might use the flowchart view to link one page to another in the necessary order. Certainly, linking pages to each other can be done in many user interface design tools, whether they have a flowchart view or not. The flowchart view, however, makes it possible to see all of the pages necessary for the process at the same time and link them to each other more easily while keeping a good overview.

Another benefit of the flowchart view in user interface design tools is that they show a process visually. It is easy to make mistakes or miss pages when linking is done manually. When all of the content is present on one page together with all the links and dependencies it is easy to spot when something is out of place. Another good point is that when the process changes (or if the connect or sequence should change for whatever reason) then user interface design tools with a flowchart view will allow you to make quick edits. You will not have to go through all of the pages in the process manually and correct the links.

These are the reasons why I feel the flowchart view is important to have in your user interface design tool. Do you use this feature and if so do you find it useful? If not, why not try out a new interface design tool to see?

One of the noticeable changes in the user interface design of familiar websites is the disappearance of the vertical scroll-bar. Whether or not this change has happened for the benefit of user experience is yet to be seen. Since the majority of mobile devices with access to the internet are touch-screen, the user can scroll text by moving a finger across the screen. Touch-screen user interfaces allow users to scroll the text itself without a scroll bar. Another possibility that mobile user interface design offers is the resizing of a window by touching the screen with two fingers at the same time.

I personally find the touch-screen user interface very handy for quick email checks, but whenever I have a chance to sit down at a computer with a mouse, I much prefer the traditional and familiar user interface design, which I cannot imagine without scroll-bars. In my view, user-friendly and intuitive user interface design often makes applications seem familiar and easy to use. The scroll-bar has been part of website interfaces for many years now and there are hardly any users who do not know how to use one. In fact, the scroll-bar has a number of benefits for the user interface design of applications. The main one is that it helps users adjust the content to fit the size of different windows and screens. Using a scroll-bar can be much more convenient than the scroll-button on a mouse. For one, I find scroll-bars convenient and user-friendly and I hope that they will not disappear from user interface design in the future.

Nelson Mandela Digital Archive project: UI design
When you follow the link from the Google Cultural Institute page to the Nelson Mandela Digital Archive Project, you are confronted with a UI design that is full of pictures and with few buttons. I could enter the site by clicking on the picture (or on the corresponding button at the bottom left hand corner of the picture). This takes me to another level of the website where I can intuitively advance by clicking the arrows on my keyboard. The UI design must have involved a lot of usability testing, because I didn’t have to even think twice about using the keyboard arrows and it wasn’t until after I had scrolled through and viewed the photo album of his life, that I recognized that I had seamlessly switched from using my mouse to my keyboard.

UI design pros
According to “Don’t Make Me Think” by Steve Krug (2006), this kind if design for the UI is the best, because the goal is to NOT make the user think. The website was also user friendly, and still brought me to the gallery whether I clicked on the picture or the corresponding button.

The work is apparently not finished yet for the Nelson Mandela Digital Archive Project and is, “a work in progress”, as their website says. Progressive is one characteristic of Nelson Mandela as he stands for social justice in South Africa. This innovation will continue long after his lifetime through the Nelson Mandela Digital Archive Project.

With clickable wireframe software, you can create prototypes that can be used to simulate an interactive application. You can use your prototype in usability testing to see how well people respond to your design concept. When you prototype your travel app with clickable wireframe software a good starting point is to think about is what your user may need. When you go traveling, you want information on your itinerary, transportation, currency, language, sites, and restaurants.

One of the great benefits of sketching mobile apps using clickable wireframe software is that you can experiment with interactive elements. This means with some types of clickable wireframe software, you can prototype interactive maps. The maps you prototype with clickable wireframe software can be used to show the best sites, restaurants, and theaters in the location you are creating an app for. You may choose to experiment with interactive features that can give your users information on the features in the map you prototype, such as audio clips or popup images and text. When you create a prototype of a travel app, think about your user and how they will use the app when they are on the go. This will help ensure that your users will want to use your app again on more holidays.

One of the platforms I got familiar with included VoIP, screen-sharing, and many other interactive features.  For instance, it allowed students to highlight the words they were not familiar with. These words would then pop up on the teacher’s screen so he would know to explain them. At the end of the lesson every student would get a script and a video of the class. I found every bit of this model extremely efficient and enjoyable.

Interactivity and the ease of learning are probably the number-one requirements for e-learning applications. To design perfectly usable software takes a great deal of work. E-learning applications, more than any other applications, require intuitive user interfaces and therefore detailed planning and collaboration. Interface design tools help developers and teachers to unite efforts and come up with the most effective and creative teaching solutions. E-learning applications also need thorough user testing at different stages of user interface design. Some interface design tools offer user testing features and can help designers enhance the usability of learning platforms without extra expenditures for tools or specialized testing environments.

One could probably draw a parallel between the development of e-learning software and the development of interface design tools. Both are gradually becoming more complex and more efficient. Interface design tools help create learning interfaces which improve learning experiences in ways not available in traditional teaching. The times when teaching online involved calling on Skype and going through the same textbook are long over. Long live e-learning and the interface design tools that make e-learning applications more successful!

One of the most important rules is the rule of three clicks. I don’t know who invented this rule originally but this definitely applies to interface design tools. If a user can’t find the needed functionality or information within 3 clicks then he or she will be annoyed with this interface design tool at best. I have tried a number of interface design tools, and I have to say that this obvious rule is sometimes neglected.  Users have to search for information in all sorts of secret places. To my mind, all the functions, design elements and information that a prototype cannot be built without, should be displayed within one click from the working screen of the interface design tool.

Another thing worth mentioning is the learnability of user interface design tools. The majority of people who use interface design tools are experienced in web design or web development, which is why interface design tools often have complex and technical interfaces. But some of the users of interface design tools are people who have no specific knowledge of software or web design. I think that interface design tools should take these users into account as well by making software more intuitive and easy to learn. Fast learnability of interface design tools would improve their overall usability and increase their use by non-professionals.

Fortunately, there are some interface design tools that do a very good job at providing easy-to-use user interfaces for a broad audience. That makes them great candidates for user interface design tools to choose for your next project.

Wireframing software is used for website development, but have you ever wondered where the term wireframing software actually comes from?  Why is it “wireframing software” instead of, “spoke” software or “building blocks”? Your wireframe deer outside can probably help.

This short blog post will address a possible etymology of “wireframing software” (also wire-framing software) as an example of technological terms having their basis in the everyday world. We will first start with a dictionary definition of wireframing software then compare it’s function with a wireframe deer.

Wireframing Software in Dictionaries

To begin, we must break wireframing software into its individual words. Collins English Dictionary 10th Ed. (2009) defines Wireframe as “a visual representation of the structure of a web page” and Merriam-Websters dictionary does not even list the word. Neither dictionary yielded results for “wireframing software” or “wire-framing software”.  What is more interesting however is that the term “wireframe” is neglected, just like wireframing software, although it is perhaps key!

Wireframing Software and Your Wireframe Deer:

A “wire” is a bendable “string-like” metal and “to frame” is to put together the “skeletal structure of something, just as wireframing software can bend the “wires” of code to “frame” a website.  This may seem obvious and simplistic to compare wireframing software with a wireframe deer, but this explanation helps illustrate what wireframing software does, and that many “computer” terms, like wireframing software, actually may have roots in the physical.  Now, go talk to your deer, it might just tell you a little about “wireframing software”.

What are clickable wireframes?

Clickable wireframes are interactive mockups of user interface designs. Clickable wireframes can be used to prototype websites or software applications. The advantage of clickable wireframes over static mockups is that clickable wireframes feature interactive elements. If you are able to use your clickable wireframes in usability testing, your clickable wireframes will help you see how users interact and navigate around your interface design. This is because with clickable wireframes, you can create UI elements like buttons, links or menus that respond like the end product.

How can clickable wireframes improve usability?

Clickable wireframes can be used in usability testing. As users interact with clickable wireframes, designers are able to see what interactive problems arise during use of an application. You may discover that in your clickable wireframe some elements are too close together for users to touch with their fingers. Some clickable wireframe software even lets you display your design simulations directly on smart phone devices. This means you can try out your clickable wireframes on a new device with thinner glass. You can therefore see through your clickable wireframes how much precision has improved. You may decide to be more ambitious with your clickable wireframes for devices with this improved technology.

Prototyping tools and layout

With tablet devices, one of the great ways to use a prototyping tool is to optimize your user interface for both portrait and landscape. Because the user can switch between these two modes, it may be useful to find a prototyping tool that lets you view your prototypes on tablet devices. These prototyping tools will therefore allow you to see how your UI design will look in different layouts, so you can see where some of your elements may need to be repositioned.

Prototyping tools and usability

Prototyping tools can help you consider usability issues. When you use a prototyping tool to simulate UIs, remember that the Android user interface includes a system bar at the bottom of the screen. If you think that having interactive elements at the bottom of the screen will affect usability, you should use your prototyping tool to experiment with layout. Using a prototyping tool can often help you solve basic usability issues that may arise at an early stage. You can also use your prototyping tool to experiment with your interface design before implementation begins, thus avoiding late rework.

With prototyping tools, remember that usability is one of the most important aspects of any application. To ensure your application will be a success, use your prototyping tool to help you get the most out of the apps you create for Android tablet devices. Remember, the mockups you create with your prototyping tool should create an intuitive user experience.